A UFO expert based in Holme Valley has criticised police as he investigates an incident of a suspected UFO spotted by one of their helicopters.

Footage emerged in September of a circular object in the sky, caught on an infra-red camera from a police helicopter in South Wales.

Scholes-based Gary Heseltine, editor of UFO Truth magazine, says he has since been submitting numerous Freedom of Information requests to South Wales Police to shed light on the incident.

Gary, who runs annual UFO conferences in Holmfirth which attract people from across the country, claims police have not been “transparent” about the encounter.

Strange object filmed by FLIR infrared camera on board the police helicopter

He said: “I’ve waited until now to see how much information I could obtain from the police via the FOI requests I’ve submitted. What I can say is that in my opinion the police have not been as open and transparent as they could have been.”

Gary says he has requested logs from the force in relation to the helicopter that captured the UFO footage, including flight maps and audio from the cockpit.

He claims the case bears a resemblance to another case in Chile where a Navy helicopter captured a UFO on infra-red.

Gary added: “I believe this British case is a major UFO event and should be the subject of a scientific enquiry.”

Strange object filmed by FLIR infrared camera on board the police helicopter